Knight In Hockey Armour
by JustMeReally
Summary: Random Twoshot I felt like writing. Casey's date doesn't go well, so of course Derek's there to pick up the pieces... Rated T to be safe :P
1. Chapter 1

Derek sat back in his chair with a contented sigh. House to himself, hockey on TV, bag of chips, pack of sodas, perfect.

Just as he was settling down to watch, the door opened and Casey sloped in.

"What're you doing home?" Derek grunted, shoving chips in his mouth.

Casey remained silent as she hung up her jacket, she went to wipe the tears from her eyes but winced as her fingers made contact with her face.

"Well?" Derek asked again "Kicked out the library for studying too much?" he wondered with a tone of sarcasm.

"Not now Derek" she whispered, her voice cracking "Not now"  
He watched in shock as she ran upstairs sobbing.

Turning back to the TV, he tried to concentrate on the game, but curiosity got the better of him and groaning, he stood and followed his step sisters retreating form.

As usual he simply let himself into her room without knocking, instantly knowing something serious was up, when there wasn't the usual "_Der-ek!" _complain of annoyance.

"Spill Spacey" he demanded "I've got a game to watch"  
"Then go watch it" she replied with a sniff, her voice muffled from where her face was buried in her pillow.

Derek sighed "Just tell me how you embarrassed yourself this time, so I can laugh, mock you and then go back to the TV."

Casey sat up, her mascara leaving marks down her cheeks from where it had mixed with her tears.  
"Will you just go away!" she yelled glaring at him.

Derek was about to shoot back a reply, when he caught sight of a blue black colouring beginning to form around her left eye.

"You walk into something again?" he asked with a frown  
Her hand shot up to cover the bruise "No-Yes-No. GO AWAY!"

Derek folded his arms "Not until you tell me how you got that" he insisted firmly  
Casey sighed and brought her knees up beneath her chin "You know how clumsy I am" she muttered.

"Yeah" Derek agreed, taking a seat on the edge of her bed "But I also know what a douche your boyfriend is"

Casey looked up at him, his brown eyes filled with worry and anger.  
"It's okay" she whispered  
He shook his head "No Case, it's not, it's never okay for a guy to hit a girl"

"I was asking for it" she told him dully  
"He tell you that?" Derek snorted  
Casey nodded slowly  
"Where is he?"

She frowned, watching as Derek clambered to his feet  
"Why?"  
"Cos I'm gonna go talk to him" he told her with a tight smile.  
"NO!"  
"Casey, he can't get away with this"

She sighed "I know, but please, let me handle it" she begged.  
"He hit you Case, that's not okay with me"  
"Why? You never cared about me before!" she snapped  
"Yes I have, I've always cared about you!" he retorted

Silence filled the room, and Casey stared at him in confusion.  
"So all those time you insulted me, tripped me and generally made my life hell...was because you cared about me?" she asked in disbelief.

"You don't get it" Derek told her desperately  
"No, _you_ don't get it!" she yelled, getting up and pushing him to the door "I've already been made a fool of by one jerk today, I'm not gonna let you get to me too"

She promptly burst into tears and began pummelling his chest weakly with her fists.  
Hesitantly, Derek wrapped his arms round her and pulled her into his chest, where she proceeded to sob into his t shirt.

"I'm an idiot" she proclaimed through her tears.  
"You're not an idiot" Derek assured her, his chin resting gently atop her head.  
"Then why does every guy I date take advantage of me in some way?"

Derek scrunched up his nose, not really liking the sound of that.  
"If I don't have sex with him, I get dumped. If I don't do what he wants, I get punched!"  
Casey sighed, her crying subsiding.

"Because you haven't met a guy yet, who realises how amazing you are"  
"Derek, that's the sweetest thing I've ever heard you say...And to me of all people"  
"Don't get used to it princess" he told her hastily, his cheeks reddening.

Casey released her grip on his shirt and stepped back, checking her clock.  
"It's late" he said catching her looking "I should" he gestured to the door behind him "I'll catch the hockey online" he bluffed, turning away from her.

"Derek?"  
He turned back at the sound of her slightly pleading voice  
"Will you stay with me a while?"

It only took him a moment to reply, his gaze lingering over her tear stained cheeks and mottled bruise.  
"Sure Case" he replied softly, sitting beside her on the bed.

"How come your relationships never end like this?" she wondered, leaning her head on his shoulder.  
Derek smirked "Because chicks dig me...And I treat them right too" he told her.  
Casey sighed "Who knew out of all the guys, Derek Venturi would be the one to figure that out"  
He laughed "Gee Klutzilla, don't give me too much credit" he joked, wrapping an arm round her shoulders.

"Sorry" Casey mumbled "Who knew I'd be jealous of your girlfriend"  
I took Derek a minute to absorb this statement, then all he could reply with was a "Huh?"  
Casey couldn't help but laugh "Relax Der, you're still a total pain" she reminded him "I just, think Sally's lucky, to have such a caring guy"

Derek gave a dramatic gasp "Did Casey McDonald just pay me compliment?"  
"Der-ek!" she moaned, thumping him "Why do you have to ruin things?"  
"Make your mind up Spacey, a second ago I could do no wrong" he teased

She yawned "Yeah, well all thoughts of Lee are now firmly out of my mind"  
Derek smiled as she lay down on her pillows.  
"Still want me to stay?" he questioned gently  
"Just until I fall asleep?" she requested with a hint of hope.

He nodded with a smile "No problem...princess."


	2. Chapter 2

A week later, Casey no longer had to use make-up to hide her bruising. All traces of Lee's violence had faded.

That night the family sat round the table, sharing their news from the day's events.

"And then Toby asked me to be his girlfriend!" Marti finished with a big grin  
"Aw that's so cute" Lizzie cooed while Edwin stuck out his tongue.

Derek turned to his little sister "No boyfriends Smarti" he warned "They cause too much pain"  
The last part seemed to be directed at Casey, as his eyes met hers across the table.

Nora frowned at the pair and cleared her throat "So Case, how was your day?" she questioned lightly.

The teen coughed awkwardly "Yeah, fine...But uh, I meant to tell you, I won't be needing dinner tomorrow night" she muttered.

"Lucky you" Edwin told her, holding up an uncooked drumstick between his fingers.  
"Ed, manners" George chided before turning his attention to Casey "Any reason in particular?"

"Err yeah...I'm going out for dinner with Lee" she said, quickly bowing her head to avoid the gaze she knew Derek had on her.

"Well that's lovely sweetheart" Nora smiled "Lizzie can you pass me the-"  
"Can I be excused?" Casey blurted out suddenly, her cheeks reddening under Derek's eyes.  
"Sure...I guess if you've done, are you okay?"

But Casey was already halfway upstairs...

...

5 minutes later, Derek burst into her room.  
"Knock much?" she grumbled, her back to him.  
"Are you insane?" he demanded "You're going out with that tool again?"

"It's none of your business" she told him shortly "Now can you get out, I'm busy"  
Derek shut the door behind him and stood watching her "I'm not going anywhere"  
Sighing, Casey spun round to face him "Why does it bother you so much?"

Derek raised an eyebrow "Case, last week I had to wait with you till you fell asleep, because the jerk hit you and you were scared. Now you make an announcement at dinner telling me you're giving him another chance!"

The girl sighed and put down the stack of books she'd been arranging  
"Derek, please...I'm a big girl, and I know what I'm doing. So just go away." She said bluntly.

"Fine" he snapped "But if he hurts you again. _Don't_ come crying to me this time!"  
With that, he turned on his heel and stormed out, leaving her in stunned silence.

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"Have a great time tonight sweetie" Nora said giving Casey a hug "Make sure that boy spoils you, you've been working far too hard lately"

"Bye Mom" she smiled, shooting a look to Derek who as usual was hunched up in his chair focusing on the TV.

He didn't even bother looking up, so with a sigh and a call of goodbye to the others she left.

...

To Derek, the evening passed excruciatingly slow. Time seemed to stand still as he watched his Father chase Marti round the house trying to get her to bed, rolled his eyes several times at Edwin's failed attempt of a magic trick, pretended to listen to Nora as she practised her latest sales pitch on him and faked a load of soccer tips for Lizzie to listen to in admiration.

Every few minutes, he checked his watch, leg bouncing up and down impatiently.

"Lee is such a nice guy don't you think?" Nora asked as she and George came and sat on the couch.  
Derek snorted and his Dad turned to him "Problem Der?"  
"The guys a douche, Casey's better off without him"  
With that, he heaved himself out of hi chair and strode upstairs.

...

"Knock knock?"  
Derek sighed and looked up to see Nora in his doorway  
"Just saying goodnight kiddo" she murmured, as if afraid he'd snap again  
He struggled to sit up "Aren't you waiting up for Casey?"

Nora laughed "No, she said she was having too great a night to come home, said she'd stop off at Emily's or something"

She said goodnight and left. Derek took a deep shaky breath in.  
He knew something wasn't right, but there wasn't exactly much he could do.

...

Just as he was falling into a restless sleep, Derek heard the door shut downstairs.  
He rolled over and checked the time on his phone. 12:30.

The door to the room beside him shut softly, and Derek couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.  
'You told her not to come to you remember?" a voice in his head teased.  
Groaning, Derek clambered to his feet and quietly opened his door.

"Case?" he whispered, as he entered her room.  
It was in darkness, so he fumbled along the wall until he reached the lightswitch.

"Casey?" he repeated a little louder, as the room was flooded with light  
He sighed and walked over to her bed where she was lying facing away from him, still fully clothed.  
"Hey, you gonna get changed or what?" he questioned lightly, shaking her shoulder.

She rolled over to face him, and Derek stumbled back.  
Her lip was swollen and bleeding, she had another black eye, her right cheek was bright red and mascara ran down her cheeks"

Derek's jaw set as he saw the terrified look that filled her eyes.  
"Case" he began quietly  
"You told me not to come crying to you" she whispered, her voice cracking.

Derek sat down on her bed, pulling her into his arms "I didn't mean that" he assured her "You can always come to me...preferably without the crying, but still"

She tried to smile but winced in pain "I'm sorry Der, I should've listened to you"  
He wiped her eyes with his thumb "Maybe" he agreed "But that doesn't matter now, what happened?"

Casey lowered her gaze to the floor as she spoke  
"We were at the restaurant, it was going fine...but then Lee said he wanted to go back to his. He made me text Mom and tell her I was staying at Emily's"

Derek inwardly cringed, pre-empting what was coming next.  
"We got all the way to his apartment before I realised what he meant...I tried to get away, but he grabbed my wrist."

She slowly rolled up the sleeve of her cardigan to reveal clear finger shaped bruises up her arm.  
"I'm gonna kill the bastard" Derek vowed through gritted teeth.  
"I told him I wasn't ready, begged him to let me go. That's when he got mad, said I was worthless, a useless girlfriend. And then he attacked me"

Derek coughed slightly "Attacked you as in..."  
"No, he didn't rape me, just battered me a little" she told him hastily  
He sighed, not exactly in relief, but at least that was something.

"You're not worthless Case, and you're not useless either" he promised "And I swear to you, if I ever see the guy. He's a dead man"

The wild look in her brother's eye, unnerved Casey, and she placed a calming hand on his shoulder  
"He's not worth it Der"  
Derek gently tilted her chin to face him "No" he agreed "But you are"  
He placed a simple kiss on her forehead "I'll go grab you some water and ice for your eye.

...

When he returned, she was under her covers, eyes drooping slightly  
Derek placed the drink and ice on her table, and stroked the hair from her face.  
"Night Case" he whispered softly, jumping as she sat bolt upright and grabbed his arm.  
"No don't go please!" she begged, tears trailing down her cheeks.

"Woah woah hey" he soothed, instantly taking a seat on the edge of her bed "I'm right here"  
Casey was breathing heavily, her whole body shaking in panic.  
Derek watched her in concern, stroking her back to calm her as best he could.  
"Maybe I should get your Mom" he suggested, freaked out by his step-sister's actions.

"I'm fine, just stay with me?" she whispered, moving over so he could lie beside her.  
Derek couldn't help but smile as she echoed the words said the week before.  
"Sure" he replied, lying down with a faint yawn.

...

Derek woke up before anyone else in the family next morning, for Casey had been very restless in her sleep, and he'd kept awake to keep an eye on her.

Gently easing himself out of her bed, he slipped out the door and into his room to change.  
From there, he sloped downstairs and hastily wrote a note, which he left on the table before disappearing out the door.

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He returned a few hours later.  
"Where have you been?" George wondered, setting the table for lunch  
"Didn't you get my note?" Derek asked with a frown.  
"Sure, but 'Gone out back soon' doesn't really go into much detail"

With a mumbled excuse, Derek jogged upstairs and headed straight to Casey's room.  
She was sat at her desk, frantically applying make-up in an attempt to hide her bruises.

"You're back" she muttered, eyes fixed on her reflection in the mirror "Where did you go?"  
Derek sat on her bed with a sigh "To see Sam...and the rest of the hockey team" he told her lightly.  
Casey turned in her seat with a suspicious frown "What have you done?" she demanded, panic lacing her words.

Derek stood up and moved behind her "Relax Spacey, we just payed Lee a little visit that's all"  
"Derek-you-why-how" Casey stuttered, worry flooding her face.  
He quickly planted a calming kiss on the top of her head.  
"He's still alive, we barely touched him" he assured her "We only went to scare him a little"

Casey groaned, allowing her head to fall forward and hit her desktop.  
"It's all gonna be okay now" Derek promised, whispering in her ear.  
"Really?" she asked doubtfully  
He smirked "Course, just call me your knight in hockey armour"


End file.
